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https://reneweconomy.com.au/renewable-energy-sets-new-us-record-beating-gas-on-the-grid-for-the-first-time-in-month-of-march/>
"It’s not an easy moment for renewable energy in the US, but the sector is
still setting new records.
Just look at what happened last month: Over the course of March, the nation got
more electricity from renewables than it did from natural gas, which is
typically the single-largest source of energy on the US grid.
It’s the first time renewables have bested the fossil fuel in the US across an
entire month, per data pulled from the think tank Ember.
Meanwhile, emissions-free sources, a category that includes both renewables and
nuclear, produced more than half of the nation’s electricity. It’s just the
third time that’s happened across an entire month, the first instance being
last March.
Sure, renewables only beat gas across a short time frame. And, yes, March is
the start of the spring shoulder season, when electricity demand falls a bit
from its winter highs and renewables tend to outperform.
But it’s a major milestone despite these caveats.
Just five years ago, the gap between gas and even the best months for
renewables was yawning. Since then, that gap has narrowed, thanks in large part
to the rapid expansion of solar and the steady growth of wind power.
Hydropower, bioenergy, and other sources of renewable energy have seen their
combined share of electricity production slowly decline over the same time
period.
Renewables have crossed this threshold amid serious political pushback. The
Trump administration has relentlessly attacked the sector – especially wind –
over the last year and change.
Its policy shifts are likely to result in fewer new solar and wind farms over
the medium term, but in the short term, they haven’t really derailed the growth
of clean energy. In fact, March was the best-ever month for wind in terms of
electricity output.
But perhaps more impressive is that renewables are growing their market share
while overall electricity demand climbs. Put simply, clean energy is taking a
bigger slice of a growing pie.
Gas power plants, for their part, remain difficult to build due to supply chain
bottlenecks. Meanwhile, solar, batteries, and wind together will once again
make up the overwhelming majority of new energy capacity added to the grid this
year.
The same was true last year. And the year before. And the year before that…
Even as the Trump administration creates obstacles to building renewables, a
key pair of facts will hold: The US needs more electricity, and renewables are
the easiest way to get it. In other words, don’t expect this to be the last
month in which renewables conquer gas."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
